We have a hard time with vacations at fancy resorts sitting by sparkling pools and sipping on cocktails. Honestly, that sounds like a really wonderful time, but I’m a kinesthetic learner the the extreme. I learn by being places and doing things. I love geography, most history, and I really enjoy putting my Sociology background to use. I also find the majority of my inspiration for creativity by exploring cultures. It’s a time for me to be far away from my usual photography work to try different areas like landscape photography.
We started talking about this Poland road trip back in India where we met our friend Maria. She is studying in Poland and I’ve always wanted to get to know the country where my family came from. We planned to meet in Warsaw, take a train to Gdańsk, then take an overnight bus down to Kraków, hike the Tatra mountains and then end in Warsaw again. It turned into a Poland adventure.
My memories of Poland are some of the best that I have of any trip. It’s always hard to come back from traveling and have to sum up all of the wonderful parts of a trip in a few words in a passing conversation. Most of the time it’s something quick like “How was your trip??” “It was really amazing, the food was great!” … So the trip was amazing and the food was excellent, but I never come back as the same person I knew when I left. I take a little piece of every country and experience with me.
While in Poland Mariaand I had ongoing conversations comparing the differences between an eastern European life and an American one. We made jokes about all of the silly English sayings on the tourists shirts that really made no sense. Maria and I had talks about what we would do for retirement thinking of becoming strawberry farmers. I learned that in Poland a plate of sweet strawberry filled Pierogies can be dinner and if a boy buys you flowers it means he really likes you. We spent a whole day in the Tatra mountains hiking, doing yoga, and then wondering if we would ever find the car again. We ate, a lot, and then learned how to cook our own pierogies from scratch while filming our very own mock cooking show.
I can’t really explain how incredibly soft the sand was at the Baltic sea or the amusement we all had stumbling around after a few beers looking for tiny pieces of amber on the shoreline, but I can take photos. The photos that I take are my memories and sharing them with you is my way of giving you a small look into a far away place.
